


and i know the same does not apply to you

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Werewolves, lycanthropy, talks of depression, talks of schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 09:58:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1262077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>the wolf harry finds in the woods that night is more than that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and i know the same does not apply to you

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so tired!
> 
> Points:
> 
> I watch too much teen wolf so some stuff on there is from that show. this is a piece of shit.

Harry was jogging through the woods behind his house one night when he tripped over something and ended up scraping his whole left arm. At that moment he was thinking about the huge gash in his arm and not what he had tripped over so he was kind of just lying there cradling his arm in his hands and shaking because he was never good with blood then he finally sat up.  

He let out a blood curdling scream.

It wasn’t his proudest moment but he didn’t really think anybody had time to be proud while there was a wolf lying down on its side with a huge arrow sticking out of its ribs. Harry let out a huge breath one that came with the fact that he was in extreme pain and that he was staring at a wolf a big ass wolf at that. A smart person would’ve probably taken off running maybe to the doctor or the vet depending on who they were.

Harry Styles was not a smart person.

Harry slowly got on all fours and crawled towards the animal. He was all alone save for the sound of crickets and hooting owls and this freakin’ wolf who as Harry gets closer to it not dead. So if it decided that it wanted to eat Harry it could right fucking there.

So there Harry was a few feet away from a giant freakin’ wolf in the middle of the woods at ten at night freezing his balls off because it was November and he was panting ‘oh my god, oh my god’ over and over again. He didn’t really know what to do considering his best friend Louis who was an expert on all things weird was not there with him probably because Louis did not run no matter what.

“Hi, wolfy,” Harry whispered bending down a little and grimacing because okay the wolf’s breath did stink like a dog which was understandable because same genus right. “Please please don’t eat me.” He wondered if wolves understood human language and then he thought about how he was talking to a wolf. “I’ve gone absolutely mad.” He hissed.

Nobody was there to hear his mental breakdown though so that was the only good thing about it. He wondered who would just leave a wolf with an arrow through it like this, why not just take the thing home and eat it. Maybe it was too heavy. Harry sniffled when the realization dawned on him that he could not leave this wolf in the middle of the woods like this.

It would die and Harry would always feel guilty for sort of being responsible for the death of something even if it was an animal. He stood up on shaky feet, his arm now just a dulling pain that he would take care of soon.

“Okay, I’m gonna take this arrow out of you now. Cool?” Unsurprisingly the wolf did not reply. “Cool.” Harry said trying to reassure himself more than the wolf. He pressed his foot down on the wolf’s side but not hard enough to crush it just hard enough to not lose his balance once he began to tug.

Harry wrapped both his hands around the end of the arrow. It looked like it was taunting him and it was so sturdy like someone had taken a steel pillar and stuck it through this animal’s body, god people were so fucking cruel. Harry looked down at the animal that was still just lying there and Harry was glad he could still detect a heartbeat because his insomnia and schizophrenic pills wouldn’t be strong enough for that.

“Uhm I don’t know who this is gonna hurt more.” He said looking down at the thing. “Hopefully it’s you. No offense I just-,” Harry cut himself off feeling like an idiot because the thing probably couldn’t even hear him and even if it could it probably did not want to. Most people found Harry’s ramblings annoying, not that Harry blamed them or anything he actually was kind of annoying.

Harry swallowed, squeezed his eyes shut, and with his heart roaring loud in his ears and his arm throbbing he tugged. He opened one eye, nothing had happened. The wolf was still unfortunately stabbed and Harry was still unfortunately scrawny.

“Fuck.” He hissed. He didn’t know what made him think this was going to work in the first place this sudden burst of courage and shit he had but it obviously didn’t. He needed Louis which wasn’t much but it was all he had and he was going to take it. Maybe Louis’ sarcasm would magically move the arrow or something.

\--  
Louis didn’t only bring himself he brought his stepbrother Liam and girlfriend Eleanor who both looked plenty pissed off. Harry was also plenty pissed off because Louis seemed to not understand the ‘only bring yourself’ part of the text that Harry had sent him.

“What the hell?” Harry hissed and Louis put both his hands up before Harry could yell at him further,

“I know, I know but she was already with me and my car was out of gas so I had to recruit Liam.”

“Uhm what the hell is that?” Eleanor asked pointing to the wolf before Harry could ask Louis why his girlfriend was with him at ten on a school night.

“A wolf.” Liam said and Louis shot him a look,

“Nah shit Sherlock.”

“Uhm… your girlfriend was the one who asked the question.”

“It was obviously rhetorical, Liam. God, you’re such a pain.” Louis always did that when him and Liam argued, made the argument seem more than it really was and usually Harry was totally there for that because he loved watching Liam sputter and Louis’ sarcasm directed onto someone that was not him but he was currently bleeding and there was a dying animal with him.

“Guys, shut up.” Eleanor snapped and they both shut up. Eleanor was the only person who Louis actually listened to. “Why is the wolf giant? Harry, how in the world did you find this?”

“Find insinuates that I was looking for it.” Harry began and Eleanor raised an impatient eyebrow obviously not giving a care in the world about Harry’s technicalities, “I stumbled upon it actually. And I couldn’t just leave it here.”

“I beg to differ.” Liam said and Louis nodded,

“Gonna have to go with my dimwit stepbrother on this one-,” Liam rolled his eyes, “you could’ve totally left this animal for dead.”

“Louis!” Eleanor squawked and Harry sighed thinking maybe it was a bad idea to have texted Louis about this.

“I think we should get the arrow out of its body before we argue over the merits of animal cruelty.” Harry said and Louis scoffed,

“I still don’t know why we can’t leave.”

“Because it’s wrong!” Eleanor snapped and Harry shook his head,

“Can we do this another time? Please?”

“I’m sorry my boyfriend is an asshole.”

“This is ridiculous. I have a test tomorrow!” Liam sounded frustrated and Harry well Harry could totally relate to what he was feeling right now. It was nearing midnight, he was hungry, and he was pretty sure when his mom came home she would freak out because he wasn’t in bed and she would probably call the cops which meant Liam’s dad and Louis’ stepdad the sheriff would know and they would probably be questioned and Eleanor’s mother the best lawyer this town had (which wasn’t saying much or anything) would eventually come.

They’d get in a lot of trouble.

That was the thing about small towns, you find a wolf in the woods and nobody stops talking about it. So they had to hurry.

Harry watched as Eleanor tugged furiously at the arrow but it didn’t budge. Fucking Christ what kind of arrow was that, Harry thought to himself.

“The arrow is not going to move but neither is this animal. I think we need to take it home.”

“Home?” Louis cried incredulously,

“In whose car?” Liam asked and Eleanor ignored both of them.

“Harry you grab his legs and I’ll grab his arms.” Harry wanted to protest because his arm was screaming for some antiseptic or anything but Eleanor looked absolutely determined and Harry was too. He was the one who got them into the whole ordeal in the first place so he had to be at least motivated to do something.

“Okay.” He said.

\--

Harry and Eleanor could not move the wolf simply by themselves so when Liam realized that they were not leaving till the wolf did he decided to help them out which moved the wolf a little. Louis was stubborn but when Eleanor threatened to withdraw sex he eventually softened and after about thirty minutes of huffing and puffing they were finally able to hoist the wolf into the back of Liam’s truck.

Harry was in the back with it currently, his head resting on the animal’s soft fur as Liam drove him home. He was glad there was nobody else on the road with them because they weren’t inconspicuous at all and they would probably get questioned. Harry was still at loss of what to do with the animal.

He didn’t really know how a simple jog through the woods could land him in a situation like that but it did. His life was never really normal anyway. Harry could feel himself drifting off but he didn’t want to just in case the wolf woke up or something. He had a split second thought about how wolves probably did not take well to humans but hey he was saving this animal’s life, he needed a little more appreciation than that.

\--

“We’ll drive it to the vet tomorrow.” Eleanor told him when they pulled up to the curb of his house. Liam and Louis had opted for staying in the car and Harry’s eyes were trained on the wolf wondering if it was going to heal any time soon, Harry hoped it did. He hated the way he felt so attached to an animal so easily but maybe it was just because he was always great at worrying about things even when he was told not to. He cared too much.

“Thanks, El.” He said to her and he really meant it. He was kind of grateful that Louis actually brought Eleanor along because she took him seriously even though she was a senior and he was only a scrawny junior who didn’t know what he was doing half the time and people didn’t really talk to him anymore since his incident back in sophomore year.

“For what?” She asked looking genuinely confused,

“Just for this.” He said and she smiled softly. She looked like she wanted to hug him but she did not, she just reached out and squeezed his bony shoulder softly and reassuringly.

“You go get some sleep okay? I’ll have Louis call you.”

“Okay.” Harry said and she gave him one last smile before she was walking over to the pickup truck and sliding in next to Louis who was driving. Harry could see Liam falling asleep in the backseat and Louis waved to him and Harry did the same back and then his eyes strayed to the wolf. It looked peaceful and Harry hoped it remained that way.

\--

“He hasn’t been answering his phone. What if something is wrong with him?” Cher Lloyd was crying behind him in French class as their teacher taught them the importance of etre.

“Nothing is wrong with him, babe.” Perrie Edwards reassured. Harry sighed and tried his hardest to concentrate but he couldn’t not really not only because he had no idea what the teacher was saying but also because Cher Lloyd was Niall Horan’s girlfriend. The thing about Niall Horan besides the fact that he looked like he could model for Abercrombie and Fitch, he was said to be the valedictorian for his graduating class, and he was quarterback and swim team captain was the fact that Harry loved him.

Harry had loved him since he was a third grader and Niall a fourth grader and he saw him at the bus stop talking to Zayn Malik. His adolescent crush turned into a full blown crush that had him doodling Niall’s name into his notebooks and then promptly ripping them out so that nobody found them. Harry would never speak to Niall Horan though simply because they ran in different social groups and Niall and his best friend Zayn would probably laugh in his face.

Niall had the reputation to be a douche bag to people he didn’t know and he probably thought Harry was a freak just like everybody else did. But Harry liked the idea of Niall though; Harry liked the idea of a pretty boy who actually saw him as a person and not just that one kid who freaked out on the water tower that one time. It’s just that even though people said Niall was mean Harry had personally seen him help a girl up and talk to the librarian as if she was his grandmother.

Maybe Harry was just thinking too much into it.

“I miss him so much, Perrie.” Cher Lloyd continued,

“It’s okay, babe. I’ll ask Zayn about him he’ll know.”

“I hope he isn’t hurt. He probably needs me and I can’t be there.”

\--

“Okay you should probably get over here.” Louis told him over the phone that afternoon as Harry raided his refrigerator.

“What do you mean?” Harry asked,

“It’s hard to explain in person. It’s kind of fucked up.”

“Is it okay? Oh my god, Louis is it dead?”

“No! It’s fine.”

“Ugh fine.”

“But don’t come to the vet.”

“What?”

“Come to my place.” Harry almost groaned in frustration wondering why the hell Louis was being so cryptic but he agreed.

All he had done when he came home that afternoon was call Louis and now there he was putting his shoes on and grabbing his car keys. His clunker because there was no way he would classify that thing as a car sometimes chose not to start.

That day was one of them and Harry well Harry wanted to kill himself and simultaneously drive his car off a bridge.

“C’mon c’mon.” Harry chanted angrily under his breath all while continuously turning the keys but to no avail. He let out a long sigh and pressed his forehead to the steering wheel and cursed god or whomever decided to give him this peace of shit car.

He got out of the car and realized that well he was going to have to walk.

Oh fucking joy.

\--

When he knocked on Louis’ front door panting and sweaty Liam almost ripped the door open on its hinges, grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, and pulled him in forcefully. When Liam slammed the door after him Harry pulled away and stared at him as if he was crazy,

“What the hell man? Why is it so dark in here?” Louis and Liam’s place usually had all the curtains pushed away from each other and the lights were usually all turned on but not that day. Natural light was streaming in of course so it wasn’t that dark but for Louis’ house it was and it made Harry highly uncomfortable.

“Okay before you go upstairs just know… we have no idea what happened.” Harry blinked at him but all Liam did was shrug and then nudge his head to the direction of the stairs. Harry had hoped that they would’ve stopped acting so weird but of course not. His life was a constant; if one person acted weird everybody acted weird. Or Harry was the one acting weird and everybody else just acted scared.

“Why are you sweating? Did you walk over here?” Liam asked as he followed him up the stairs and Harry shrugged,

“Would that have been in a problem?”

“It would’ve been super idiotic.”

“I guess I’m an idiot.”

“Oh… is your car fucked up again?”

“Shut up.” Liam laughed and Harry rolled his eyes and was glad that they had gotten to Louis’ bedroom door. A huge picture of Megan Fox was on his door and had been there since they were in the sixth grade because Louis had this dream that he would one day marry Megan Fox and help her have more kids.

“Okay, so like don’t freak out.”

“You put the wolf in Louis’ bedroom?” Harry asked confused out of his fucking mind.

“I wish it was that simple.” Liam said causing Harry to roll his eyes again. Liam looked at him once more before he pushed Louis’ bedroom door open. Harry didn’t know what he expected, maybe to see the wolf rolling around with Eleanor on the ground or just sleeping without an arrow at its side but he did not fucking expect Niall Horan sitting on Louis’ bed looking pissed the fuck off.

Eleanor was standing on the other side of Louis’ bedroom mouth turned down and staring at Niall while Louis looked like he had pulled up a chair at the foot of his bed. Harry stared still trying to comprehend how the hell the wolf fit into there… did the wolf belong to Niall? Did Niall think they kidnapped his wolf?

“Harry! You’re here!” Eleanor squealed which subsequently caused Louis and Niall to look up at him at the same time.

“Why the fuck is there more people here that I don’t fucking care about? Where is my girlfriend? Where is Zayn?” Niall suddenly yelled wincing with every word.

“Hey, fucker shut up.” Louis snapped,

“Oh my god. Can I leave?”

“You can’t even walk.” Eleanor replied rolling her eyes at him. Liam walked further into the room and closed then locked the door behind him. Harry still hadn’t moved an inch still wondering where the hell the goddamn wolf was.

“Where is it?” He eventually asked looking at Eleanor and she kind of shrugged and pointed tentatively at Niall,

“Right there.”

\--

“What the hell happened?” Harry hissed while he and Eleanor were downstairs looking for something to eat in Louis and Liam’s refrigerator. Eleanor shrugged and grabbed some hot pockets and shoved them into the refrigerator,

“Louis left him in the truck and when he woke up in its place was Niall. The arrow was next to him and he had a gash on his side.”

“This is ridiculous you know that right, El?”

“But it’s real.”

“That’s fucking crazy, we aren’t crazy.” Harry wished he had chosen different words but he hadn’t. All he could think about was standing on that water tower and remembering how the voices wouldn’t stop and how he wouldn’t stop seeing them setting fire to the tower. He had to jump off, it was obligatory! Maybe he was crazy because after his stay at the hospital he stopped hearing the voices every time he took his pills but now… now what was this?

“Harry,” Eleanor said wrapping his hands up in hers. He hadn’t even realized they were shaking until she was stopping them and he sniffled, “we aren’t crazy. You aren’t crazy this is real and we’re gonna try to figure it out alright? We just have to try and get answers.”

\--

“I ain’t telling ya’ll shit. You guys can’t keep me here.”

“We’re helping you.” Eleanor said to Niall who looked like he wanted to set fire to the house and let them burn. Harry couldn’t help but to stare at his side which Harry guessed Eleanor had patched up because it had a white band aid on it. He thought about how there was an arrow in a wolf last night and now all there was was Niall Horan. It was funny how life worked out.

“You have helped enough.”

“Harry found you almost dying in the woods! Can you just like help us figure this out for just one second?” Eleanor was pissed, her eyes darker and a strand of hair falling onto her face. Louis grabbed her hand and reeled her in as a way of trying to calm her down but she didn’t look like she wanted to calm down.

That day was the most Harry had ever heard Niall Horan took and instead of being enamored he was just annoyed. Harry could’ve left him for dead.

“What is there to figure out?” Niall asked.

“Why the hell are you an animal?” Louis screamed and Niall slammed his head onto the back of the headboard angrily and he didn’t even wince. It was weird how a pain on his side could make his face twist in agony but slamming his skull onto a headboard couldn’t. Something was off and Niall wasn’t human, Harry could sense it like a bad thorn on his side.

Just like he had felt a pull towards the wolf last night he just felt something about Niall something that made his skin itch with anticipation. He wanted to hear Niall say it, he didn’t want to be crazy.

“I’m not an animal. You don’t know what you saw.”

“We all saw it, Niall. Harry saw it, Louis saw it, El saw it, and I saw it. What the hell are you?” Liam asked calmer than both Louis and Eleanor combined. Harry guessed it was because Liam and Niall were on the swim team together and they were friends so they understood each other more.

Niall leaned his body forward and his eyebrows turned down in anger, “Nothing.” He hissed.

There was a tense silent for a moment and Harry swallowed then looked at his friends, “guys let’s leave him alone for a bit. C’mon.”

They all looked at him and Louis looked like he wanted to protest but he didn’t. He just stood up, shot Niall one last look, and then walked out the door first followed by Louis then by Eleanor who grabbed Harry’s wrist and pulled him out too. Harry didn’t know if it was his heart that was beating so hard but he was almost sure someone else’s was beating with him.

He wasn’t crazy.

\--

“We can’t keep him here.” Harry said to them when they all piled downstairs. Eleanor was in Louis’ lap looking very distressed, Louis looked plain angry, and Liam looked confused. Harry though was just exhausted. Being in that room with Niall made him tired because it felt… different, the room was wired weird or something like that.

“Harry, something isn’t right about him.” Eleanor said and Harry nodded. He knew it they all knew it but what the hell were they gonna do about it?

“El, we can’t… we can’t keep him here. People who care about him are eventually gonna call him… it’s gonna be a huge shit storm once they find him with a gash in his side in Louis’ house with all of us here.”

“What if he hurts someone?”

“What do you mean?” Harry asked not expecting that question.

“He’s an animal, Harry… animals hurt people.” Eleanor elaborated and Harry swallowed not denying the fact that she had a point. They were all silent for a moment neither knowing how to solve the problem that was upstairs,

“I think I’m gonna go talk to him,” when Harry noticed Eleanor making room to move he added on, “alone.”  

\--

When Harry pushed open the door to Louis’ bedroom door softly the electric feeling that he had felt came back. He shut the door after himself and then he looked over at Niall who was just sitting on the bed eyeing him. His anger had dissipated and he too just like Harry looked exhausted. Niall looked just like a child with all that anger discarded and Harry felt bad for him.

“Are you here to let me out?” Niall asked and Harry ignored the question,

“I found you ya ’know.” He didn’t know what him saying it was going to prove but he did it anyway. Niall raised a brunette eyebrow at him obviously not impressed by Harry’s confession,

“I know.” He finally said and Harry swallowed now just feeling dumb. He didn’t know what he came up here to do but he just… he didn’t want Niall to leave Louis and Liam’s place hating all four of them. That wasn’t the point of the whole thing.

“Do you feel that too?” Harry suddenly blurted and then he wanted to make a break for it.

“What?” Niall asked and Harry swallowed guessing he had to continue,

“The energy in the room. It’s like the air is thicker… I feel tired.” Harry tried to remember if he took his meds today but he had he never ever forgot them. If the voices came back he wouldn’t hesitate to fucking kill himself because hearing them like that all loud and vocal and so mean and nasty… he didn’t know how to get away from them because how do you run from your own mind?

“I feel it too.” Niall finally said and Harry blinked,

“You do?” Niall nodded and Harry swallowed and nodded. Okay so it wasn’t just him. “That’s good.”

“Can I leave now?” Niall asked not quite angry again but just impatient.

“Are you gonna… are you gonna hurt people?”

“Why the fuck would I hurt people?” There was that anger again. His shoulders had locked up and the neutrality of his lips had turned into a frown.

“You’re an animal.” Harry continued trying his hardest not to get intimidated. Niall stared at him and Harry watched Niall’s jaw shift in anger and Harry was pretty sure if Niall could move he would be lunging across the bed and throttling Harry.

“I’m not a fucking animal.”

“Someone shot you with an arrow… an arrow that wouldn’t move no matter how much we tried and you’re just magically a human again.”

“You don’t know shit stop fucking pretending you do, you freak.” Niall hissed and Harry’s mouth dropped a little. He stepped back as if Niall had physically struck him because that simple word hit him harder than anything else could have. Harry gasped for breath but he was just met with the thickness of the air and he could feel the back of his eyes stinging and he bit back tears.

“I’m not a freak.” He finally muttered looking up at Niall through hooded eyes. But all he could do was gasp because where Niall was once sitting was no longer occupied… Niall was gone.

\--

Niall was back in school the next day as if nothing ever happened. Louis, Liam, and Eleanor crowded around their regular table and glared at Niall. He was sitting at his regular table with half the football team, some of the swim team, and Cher Lloyd in his lap. Of course his best friend and right hand man Zayn was there too with his girlfriend Perrie and Harry couldn’t help but to think about what Niall had said to him.

When he had gone home the other day he had just sat there and let the word replay in his mind. _Freak._

He hadn’t been called that since sophomore year and back at the hospital words like that weren’t allowed probably because everybody there was fucked up somehow but he couldn’t stop thinking about it. There was a boy he had worshipped ever since the third grade and all the ideologies he had built up for Niall had all come crashing down with that one word like someone had blown at a deck of cards. And poof it was all over.

“Are those the kind of secrets the popular kids hide?” Louis asked and Harry snapped out of his thoughts,

“What do you mean?”

“Are they all just wolves?”

“I think there is more to it than just that.” Eleanor said taking a bite out of her apple.

“It’s called lycanthropy.” Liam said and all three heads turned to look at him. Liam just shrugged, “He’s a werewolf.”

“They don’t exist.” Harry said quickly,

“If they don’t exist then explain boy wonder over there, Harry.” Louis hissed at him then turned back to his brother begging him to continue. Eleanor reached over and patted his hand out of comfort. Harry swallowed how could they all just sit around and talk about Niall possibly being a wild beast so easily? How come they weren’t freaking the fuck out? Harry had seen giant evil bunny rabbits trying to burn him down yet he was the only one questioning the possibility of werewolves.

“He’s a lycanthrope or a shape shifter whatever you want to call it. I was reading up and it said either he was born with it, bitten by a higher ranking werewolf like an alpha, or he was cursed.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I think he was born with it. When we found him he was completely shifted into the wolf, not just his face or his fangs his whole body. From what I read only genetic shape shifters can do that.” Liam said. Harry looked up and his eyes widened a little when he saw both Niall and Zayn looking over at them. Harry looked away and tried to go back to listening to Liam, trying to ignore the fact that Niall and Zayn might know what they’re talking about.

“They have superhuman abilities. Superhuman hearing, scent, strength. It’s like everything we have but heightened especially when they’re fully shifted.”

“If they have so much strength then why did a simple arrow knock him out like that?”

“I’m thinking the arrow was not only made from silver but it was doused in wolfs bane which is a plant that if used in large doses can kill not only the werewolf but the person itself.” Louis scoffed and sat up in his seat,

“So we’re going to school with a creature? Fucking ace.”

“He can only turn into a full blown wolf on the full moon… unless he’s an alpha which I doubt because of his age.”

“Guys I think he can hear us.” Eleanor hissed suddenly and Harry looked up again but Niall wasn’t looking their way. He was looking at Cher but Harry knew that his attention wasn’t turned to her, not one bit.

\--

“Leave it alone.” Harry startled at the voice behind him. He slammed his locker door shut and turned around quickly only to be met by Niall Horan staring at him. The air had shifted again and now the same thick atmosphere that had made him feel like he was choking was back, he wondered what the hell even was that.

“What are you talking about?”

“Don’t bullshit me.”

“I did a lot of things today so you’re gonna have to refresh my memory.”

“I’ll rip your fucking throat out don’t think I won’t.” Niall hissed jaw clenching and Harry swallowed then stepped back.

“Humans can’t do that.” He said and Niall just stared at him his usually blue eyes now a dark and angry shade of grey that bore into Harry’s.

“Leave it alone okay?”

“You should leave… you don’t want to be seen talking to a freak.” Harry said not knowing where the sudden bouts of confidence were coming from but that was how he felt around Niall. He got a little bit angrier, a little bit braver, a little bit more of everything and he didn’t know why. Around his friends he was good at staying silent and letting them talk but around Niall he didn’t feel that way and he was pretty sure he was supposed to.

“Are you still on that?” Niall asked him and Harry rolled his eyes. He brought his hands up to Niall’s shoulders and shoved him away,

“Get away from me and my friends okay?”

“I would give anything to be away from you and your crazy friends.”

“You turn into a feral beast at night. Who are the crazy ones again?”

\--

“Harry, have you been taking your sleeping pills?” His mom asked him that afternoon. She wasn’t working the night shift at the hospital that day so she was just lounging around the house and Harry was shocked with what he was greeted with. He blinked,

“Why?”

“Well for one I found your pills today and you’ve only been taking the other ones and you look like shit.”

Ever since Harry found Niall all wolfed out in the woods he had stopped taking the pills. He didn’t exactly know why but he just didn’t want them anymore because most people cherished sleep but he kind of dreaded it, dreaded not knowing what was going on around him because he was unconscious. He also didn’t dream much so he ended up just slipping into this abyss. And he absolutely hated it.

“Harry, why haven’t you been taking your pills?”

“I’ve just been stressed out… school.”

“The pills are supposed to relax you.” His mom said following him into the kitchen. Harry couldn’t tell her that they only made him more on edge.

“Mom, don’t you think it’s messed up that your seventeen your old son has to take pills to sleep? Don’t you want the opposite of that?” Harry asked grabbing the left over Chinese in the refrigerator and turning to her. She just scoffed at him,

“You’ve always been different. I could care less if you have to take pills.”

“I’ve always been crazy, mom.”

“You’re not crazy, Harry. You can be anything you want but,” she grabbed his face in her hands and looked at him with determination, “not crazy. Never crazy you understand?”

“Yes ma’am.” He said even though he knew deep down inside that what Niall had said was true, he was a freak.

\--

“They have mates.” Eleanor said to him two days later at lunch. Harry and his friends had been looking deeper into the whole werewolf mess trying to figure out how it coincided with Niall but to no avail just too some weird posts online where some dude swore he turned into a beast of the night. And now there they were at lunch time, Harry picking at his mashed potatoes and the Louis and Liam listening to Eleanor.

“Go on.” Louis said and Eleanor smiled at him but she did.

“Mates like it’s already wired into them who they’re gonna love. Isn’t that fucked up?” She asked and Harry nodded,

“Extremely. Can they uh can they date anyone else? Even if it isn’t there mate?” He didn’t mean to bring his voice volume down but he didn’t want Niall to hear him because it would be kind of embarrassing Niall knowing he was asking about him.

“Yeah I think so. But when they find there mate it’s like boom instant connection.”

“But some of them hate each other.” Liam added on to what Eleanor was saying and she nodded,

“How about if their mate doesn’t love them back?” Louis asked and Eleanor looked to Liam for help,

“The mate always loves them back… that’s why they’re mates. But sometimes the mate doesn’t want to be with them so they kind of spiral into this depression… their mates are their anchors and if their mate dies there is no way they can live. They die soon after.”

“So like no chance of moving on?” Louis asked and Liam nodded,

“No chance.”

“Oh my god. That sounds horrible.” Eleanor said and Harry couldn’t help to agree. He would hate to have his whole love life planned out for him; to not be able to live with the person that was so called ‘the one’ and then dying if they died. Harry didn’t know what it was about love that made people do stupid things and he had thought for a long time he was in love with Niall but he wasn’t and he didn’t want to be. He didn’t want to be around Niall ever again but he couldn’t help but to think about the connection he had with the wolf in the backseat of the car that night and how every time he was around Niall he felt like he was being choked and he ended up exhausted.

He didn’t know what it was about Niall but whatever it was he really didn’t want to find out.

\--

Harry was unlocking his car that afternoon when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He had felt it coming so he didn’t scream he just whipped around and was shocked to see Zayn Malik and Perrie Edwards standing in front of him. Zayn Malik was the running back of their high school football team and was what some might call beautiful he looked something akin to a vogue model with the almond eyes, the pouty lips, and the dark black hair. While Niall Horan was the wild one of the two Zayn was the calmer one never seeming to get angry.

Perrie Edwards had been Zayn’s girlfriend since the eighth grade. While Niall and Cher had been an on and off thing since junior year Perrie Edwards and Zayn Malik had managed to make it through the perils of high school drama unscathed. Perrie was a cheerleader and captain of the scholastic decathlon bringing the team to regionals every single year without fail.

Essentially Zayn and Perrie were a power couple. Harry was confused as to why they were standing in front of him.

“So you know.” Zayn said voice having a ‘no bullshit’ kind of tone to it. Harry’s eyes flickered over to Perrie but her face was stony and she was barely blinking it was kind of creepy because her platinum blonde hair made her look ethereal somehow.

“Know what?”

“What we are.”

“Who’s we?” Harry asked looking over at Perrie once more and wondering if she too was one of those beasts. Perrie pursed her lips looking slightly irritated at Harry’s questions.

“What is Niall, Harry?” Harry was kind of shocked to be honest that Perrie Edwards actually knew his name.

“A werewolf.” The words tumbled out of Harry’s mouth quickly and then he swallowed. Perrie looked over at Zayn then nodded,

“We have to show you something.” Zayn said turning away and walking towards his car which was way more expensive than Harry’s and probably started on the first try. Perrie twined their fingers together and Harry decided that it was his cue to follow.

Zayn had a Porsche which Harry found absolutely ridiculous for an eighteen year old boy but he didn’t comment. Perrie slid into the passenger side and Harry slipped into the back and for fear of looking like a loser he didn’t freak out about the fact that he was in Zayn Malik’s freakin’ car. Nobody talked and Perrie turned on the radio to the top forty hits and she squealed when an annoying song that had been playing on the radio for a whole month came on.

It was odd how quickly her whole demeanor changed.

“I _love_ this song!”

“I know. You tell me that every time it comes on.” Zayn said and she smacked him, “I’m driving!” He cried but it was playful.

Harry felt kind of awkward in the backseat probably because he had never really talked to Zayn and Perrie even though they all had lived in the same neighborhood since they were kids and their parents were friends. It was probably because of his sophomore freak out.

They pulled up to the opening of the woods and as if it was perfectly normal Zayn got out of his car, took Perrie’s hand, and began walking into it. Harry swallowed and followed choosing not to tell them that the last time he walked into the woods he found out the boy he used to be in love with was a beast.

“So wanna tell me why we’re here?” Harry finally asked when Zayn brought him to the exact place where he had found Niall’s body. He was starting to believe that Zayn himself wasn’t human.

“Zayn’s a shape shifter too.” Perrie said looking at Zayn as if that was his cue or something. A loud unintentional scream burst from Harry’s mouth when Zayn’s once beautiful face transformed into something beast like and his trimmed fingernails became claws. Harry backed up not scared per se just shocked.

“If it was a full moon he’d be able to transform into a wolf like the way you found Niall but obviously it’s three in the afternoon.” Perrie said. “I’m an emissary and Zayn’s mate.”

\--

Harry was in his room that afternoon trying to get all that Perrie and Zayn had said through his head. He wasn’t really expecting his afternoon to turn out like it had but it wasn’t so bad. He wondered if Zayn and Perrie just told people their secrets so easily though or maybe they figured since Harry was keeping Niall’s shit inside he would do the same to theirs.

It wasn’t like Harry was going to go tell people about what he had seen but at the same time he liked keeping a low profile because if he was labeled freak again he might lose it. He was doing his homework or at least trying to on the low amounts of sleep and the high amounts of energy floating through him. Maybe it would be good for him to take his pills.

There was a sudden tapping at his door that startled him so much he ended up throwing his pencil halfway across his room. He turned his head and raised an eyebrow when he saw Niall staring back at him, obviously holding onto the huge oak tree in front of his bedroom door.

He was confused as to why Niall was there but he stood up and opened the window anyway which allowed Niall to crawl in gracefully.

“What are you doing here?” Harry asked remembering the last encounter he had with Niall. The room was suddenly electric again; Harry’s skin feeling like it had electricity under it and livewire running through it.

“So Zayn told you.” Niall said pacing the room back and forth and Harry nodded,

“Perrie did most of the talking but… yeah.”

“It’s fucked up isn’t it?”

“That you transform into an animal?”

“Yeah.”

“No. I’m used to freaks.” Harry said looking at Niall who averted his gaze and actually blushed showing for the first time since he had called Harry that word that he actually regretted it even if it wasn’t by much.

“I’m sorry about that by the way. I was out of fucking line.”

“It’s okay.” Harry said even though at the time it wasn’t and Harry had spent his time obsessing over that one word. But right then watching Niall and thinking about the fact that this boy was just born into a life beyond his control well he couldn’t be angry with him right then. He didn’t want to be angry with him anyway.

“Thanks.” Niall said and Harry raised an eyebrow,

“What for?”

“Not judging me… for saving me that night in the woods.”

“Thanks for living. I would’ve been traumatized if you died.” Niall chuckled and nodded,

“I guess I’ll see you around yeah?”

“You will.”

\--

They became something sort of like friends after that. In the hallways Niall actually said hi to him which was weird but he said hi back and Perrie actually sat with him and his friends one day at lunch. They all ended up loving her and Eleanor was jealous causing Louis to reassure her that she was the only girl for them and there was no way Perrie Edwards could just replace her like that.

Harry, Liam, Louis, and Eleanor actually went to Niall’s football games and Niall would smile at them when he saw them. Harry didn’t know why the secret they shared bind them so much but it did and just… Harry was glad that they became friends because he got to experience the wonders of Niall’s smile up close and personal.

The heat between them didn’t stop if anything it intensified until sometimes even when they weren’t around each other Harry could still feel it under his skin. Sometimes he would lay in bed and he would wonder what Niall was doing right then, he hoped sometimes that Niall thought about him too even if it was a fleeting thought that didn’t last long.

Harry hoped that Niall thought about him a lot.

\--

Niall kissed him in his bedroom the night of another full moon. Harry hadn’t been expecting it not at all; Niall had just snuck into his bedroom and said,

“It’s a full moon tonight.”

“You prepared?” Harry had asked plopping down on his bed with his books open. He didn’t have to study but if he didn’t occupy himself with something he would just end up staring at Niall and Niall wouldn’t like that.

“I’ve been experiencing these things since I could remember. ‘Course I’m prepared.”

“I heard some people need anchors… so they don’t freak out on the full moon.”

“Who’d you hear that from?”

“Perrie told me. She’s Zayn’s anchor. Do you have an anchor?”

“I’m my own anchor. Zayn made a mistake falling for her… and he can’t fix it.” Niall said sitting down on the bed next to Harry and Harry swallowed and looked up at Niall.

“Why do you say that?”

“If she goes he does with her.”

“Then he’s never gonna let her go.”

“It’s a fucked up process.”

“Maybe but… I don’t think you get it until it happens to you ya ‘know?”

“If it starts happening you bolt.”

“Are you good at bolting?”

“It’s never happened before till...”

“Till what?” Harry asked and Niall didn’t reply immediately like he had done for all of Harry’s other imploring questions. “It’s okay if you don’t want to say it.”

“Till you. It’s never happened till you.” Niall said and Harry blinked his mouth falling open a bit. He turned his head as if somebody else was in the room with them and Niall was talking about that person but Niall was just looking at him all biting seriousness and heart beating wildly in its cage.

“I thought it was only me.”

“I’ve felt it since that time in Louis’ bedroom. I didn’t know what it was.”

“Why aren’t you bolting then? Since you’ve got it all figured out.”

“I can’t… I can’t run from you.” Harry and Niall were both silent for a bit, head’s so close together Harry could just move his head an angle and they would be kissing.

“Well,” Harry began, “are you gonna kiss me or not?”

Niall kissed him.


End file.
